A Loss to Gain
by DaringDreamer
Summary: William has left to attend to his Dutchman duities; Elizabeth went to tend to hers as the Pirate King. One lonely month filled with regret, sadness and uncertainty passes and Elizabeth gets a visit of hope in the form of a familiar pirate. 2nd chances?
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own any Pirates of the Caribbean characters. They all belong to Disney. The intro to part one is taken from a song called Into the Night which I fully credit to Santana.**_

**_I have not abandoned the A Pirate's Heart for Me trillogy, just needed a break for inspiration. More to come in Padlock of a Soul soon._**

**_To those who have no idea what I was just taking about, if you enjoy this, check it out._**

**_I hope you all enjoy!!!_**

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**Part 1/4**

**Pour Sand in the Wound...**

_Like a gift from the heavens _

_it__ was easy to tell_

_It was love from above _

_that__ could save me from Hell…_

The tavern nestled deep in the heart of Shipwreck cove was bustling with activity. This particular tavern was composed of three ship hulls, a close quartered place for the type of crowd it now housed. The normally busy bar was now overflowing with pirates, anxious to fill their tankards to the brim in celebration of their victory against Davey Jones and the East India Trading Company, however short that triumph may last. Currently, drinking festivities and celebrations had lasted the entire month. Such an achievement was not to be lessened. Smoke mingled up in the ship hull rafters, the majority of the substance wafting up from Teague's pipe. The old keeper of the code sat hunched over his guitar in the shadows, observing all of the hubbub around him without really looking up.

Every pirate lord was there and on a bench in the shadows sat their illustrious pirate king, Elizabeth Turner. Her sun kissed hair seemed to glow in the flickering torchlight and her downcast eyes reflected remorse, sadness and uncertainty. None of this went unnoticed by Teague. A quick flick of his eyes over her form and a weak smile increased the weathered lines of age on his face. He knew her struggle all too well. The source, he had more than a guess at. He paused in his strumming as he felt the eyes of his son, strong on him.

Jack Sparrow walked through the doors of that dark, warm cavern and his mere presence demanded any and all attentions. Angry eyes shifted over him in calculated glares. Harlots' eyes were drawn to him, eyes a glitter with hope of a night cloaked tumble. Admiration sparkled in the eyes of some of the crew of fellow lords while unease was present on many of their captains.

Jack Sparrow, regardless of feelings toward him or emotions evoked, drew attention.

Teague smiled another private, small smile and continued his strumming. Elizabeth, who sat across from him, seemed to be the only body unaware of his son's presence. She remained lost in her own sorrow and sense of loss. It had been that way since she had trudged into the shipwreck city, for the month she had taken up rule. Her heart was troubled; it seemed that recent choices, recent _commitments_, had left her unsatisfied. Although she had done exceedingly well in her position as king, that look never left her eye.

Jack sauntered into the heat of the room, the sweet smell of rum and sweat and sawdust luring him in like a siren's song. His siren currently sat obstructed by shadow; the prospect that her presence had been the real pull that had drawn him here was a frightening one that he chose not to dwell on. He knew she hadn't seen him yet but he couldn't deny that he hadn't taken his eyes off her since he walked in. Those damning brown eyes of hers were shadowed and troubled and he could feel her sadness clear across the room.

He saw the three wenches out of his peripheral, weaving their way towards him through the din. This routine was an old and tired one for him; his dealing with it this time around would be new. The slaps of Giselle and Scarlet still burned on his face, proof of their parting. He knew the result of this refusal to very well bare the same fruit.

"Well Jack Sparrow! What a _pleasure_ that you choose to grace us with your company this night," purred the blonde woman in front of him. The three women had effectively surrounded him on all sides, latching onto his arms and neck, their cheap perfume assaulting his nose. He offered them a smile of gold and ivory, felt them tremble with the expression. He knew how to make this company bend.

"Ladies!" he offered, each of their names escaping him. All three of them being blonde didn't help. He had only had one encounter with them, brief and a release of his withheld "tension" just before they set sail for battle against the EITC. He needed it. Such long periods of time and in such close quarters with Miss Elizabeth Swann did unfair things to him and his anatomy that demanded attentions.

He glanced at Elizabeth over blonde number one's shoulder. She still hadn't seen him.

It's not Miss Swann anymore yet tales spoken in the alleys and docks call you such, Jack mused to himself. It would be Mrs. Turner now. Why does no one call you that I wonder? What would keep you from taking that name?

The whining voices of the women who clung to him broke through his thoughts and he turned his attention back to them. He snaked an arm around blondes two and three on either side of him and they giggled, hold on his biceps tightening. Blonde number one cupped the back of his neck, toying with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"We are _soooo_very glad you are here Captain," blonde two whispered into his ear.

Blonde three took up the task. "We've missed ye; terrible man to make us wait this long time."

Jack saw his opening and took it, their attempts to lure him becoming more suffocating than alluring. "A bit longer than you might have anticipated loves."

The two women at his sides didn't register what he meant but the one in front of him straightened. "And what could you mean by that Jackie?"

Jack stiffened as he saw a man approach Elizabeth. He recognized him as one of Captain Villanueva's crew members. Everything about the crewman screamed that his intentions for Elizabeth reflected those of the women currently draped about Jack.

It was all he could do not to just bolt from the harlots and drop the man flat.

But, pirate though he was, Jack did have quite a gentlemanly nature and soft heart so he attempted to dissuade the yellow haired annoyances gently. "It means that I am currently abolishing any and all ties to you three lovelies or any other women of the like… _employment _with which I had had any affiliation."

He smirked again and shrugged, grabbing a mug of rum as it passed on a tray. "Sorry darli'ns."

The next part of the routine was all too familiar to him as well as three well aimed slaps landed on his face. Some rum ran down his wrist after spilling from the impact of the slaps that had jarred his whole body. He licked it clean.

"Have you lost yer mind? What, exactly, Sparrow, would cause such an change?"

"Tryi'n to figure that bloody one out as we speak dearie."

He nodded his head to them as they huffed away, tipping the rum to his lips. The taste and burn he welcomed as it slid down his throat. He knew he would need it; he was about to approach his doom, his kiss of death, his torture. She had killed him, an act he vowed left no room for forgiveness yet here he was. The way they had parted had been less than satisfying and, much as he told himself it was best that way, his blasted compass would point nowhere but her.

The crewman was cozying up to Elizabeth and he gritted his teeth as he noticed his father doing nothing to stop it.

"Useless old man," Jack grumbled as he stalked forward.

His mission: to lie to rest whatever relentless part of him lay within Elizabeth's hold so he could get a compass heading that lead back to his _Pearl, _gain immortality. That was his one and _only _mission.

He froze mid step when Elizabeth looked up. Her breath caught and her eyes grew wide in surprise. Jack offered a wide smile, arms out to the side in an act of self display. "Your pirate lord and humble ally Captain Jack Sparrow at your service my liege."

Suddenly she was in his opened arms, an exclamation of "Jack, his only warning before she flew to him. She buried her face in his neck and he was startled to feel her tremble. Again, he found himself momentary paralyzed. She held on to him tightly and his father's eyes met his. He pulled his eyes away from the depths of Teague's own eyes and glanced over at Villanueva's crew member. He was seething with frustration and Jack finally found feeling in his arms again, wrapping them possessively around the king mumbling against his neck. He held the crewman's gaze until the man was forced to walk away with a snort.

He smirked and pushed Elizabeth away at arm's length. "Well Lizzie, what a greeting! Had I known you to miss me so I would have returned posthaste." He chose to leave out the fact that he had, indeed, left to find her the day after he had left her on Shipwreck Island, the morning he had had his final "get together" with Giselle and Scarlett and found his _Pearl _gone.

She regained composure quickly and efficiently, a pink blush on her cheeks the only indication of her embarrassment in her display. The dim lighting of the tavern almost hid it completely. "Jack Sparrow, how long has it been? Every pirate lord has been drinking deep and celebrating our victory over Beckett but you." Her eyes roamed over his face, happiness a gleam in her eye.

He took another drink of rum, blocking that joy filled face with the dark, amber liquid in his cup. When he lowered the mug from his lips, the look was still on her face and the resulting effect on him remained. "Had business in Tortuga, love."

"Business more important than visiting this cove, visiting me?" She batted her eyelashes at him and he knew she was playing at their old game. He both welcomed and feared the return of it.

"Nothing is more important than the pirate king, cept for me, I suppose."

"A month is a long, lonely time," she said, sobering.

Jack felt a pang but chose to ignore it. "Aye. Cruel to have but a night romp with your new husband before he is whisked off to immortality."

"I can never thank you enough for saving Will's life Jack." She placed a hand lightly on his arm and Jack tried not to flinch, images assaulting his mind of Will and Elizabeth together before they parted ways.

"One can get immortality more ways than eternal servitude. Not my style. I accept your thanks and throw it away. I don't need it."

Elizabeth's face brightened. "So is the _Pearl _anchored down at the docks? Where is the rest of the crew?"

This time Jack did flinch, a grimace distorting his handsome face. "Me crew is in Tortuga, taking full advantage of the time allowed to them for celebration."

Elizabeth waited, looking at him expectantly to continue. She knew there must be more to it. But Jack just stood before her, rocking back and forth from heel to toe. The only thing more he offered her was a sniff. Suddenly, she knew.

"You lost the _Pearl _again, didn't you?"

"I did not."

"You did too Jack! So how? How did you get here and who took your beloved ship this time?"

"Did not, on the _Pearl _and no one."

"Jack," Elizabeth warned, eyebrows coming together.

He sighed and eyed his father again. The older man was looking at the two with a guarded expression. Elizabeth followed his gaze, looking over her shoulder and at Teague. Realization dawned. "I assume you would like council with your father. It has been a long time and I am sure your last meeting with him was cut short by the event of war."

Jack's eyebrow rose in question. "My father? Keeper of the Code? Teague?" He made a show of laughing. "What would give you the bloody idea that he is my father?"

"Oh I don't know Jack. Perhaps the facts that he told me you are his son? Teague has been very good to me since I have taken up my position as Pirate King here."

Jack squinted his eyes suspiciously at her, then at his father. "Just how good to you has he been exactly?"

Elizabeth's mouth gaped. "Wha… how… no. No Jack. He has been nothing but kind and decent and helpful to me."

Jack smiled sourly. "That wasn't the question now, was it?"

Elizabeth leaned into him, lowering her voice, the tone chilly and a warning. "We never slept together, if that's what you mean." Jack didn't seem convinced. "How could you think of your father that way, of _me _that way?"

Jack waved a ring clad hand through the air. "You don't know that man like I do love." He looked her up and down. "And you're unpredictable. Ten years is a long time to be without the pleasurable company of your husband."

The pink had long since been replaced by a red flush of anger and embarrassment. She cast Teague another look over her shoulder, praying he couldn't hear. The man seemed not to, strumming away on his guitar once again. Elizabeth knew better.

She grabbed Jack's arm, pulling him forward and towards the door and a promise of privacy and cooler breezes. "Oh, Lizzie, didn't know you were that deprived!"

She rolled her eyes, the blush increasing and she was glad Jack could not see it. She ached for the cool whisper of breeze across her face. "While I may be loath to decline, it seems that a mere kiss from your pretty lips has brought death to two people. I can't imagine what sort of fate awaits those who partake in even more… intimate activities with you."

Elizabeth felt a wave of sadness. Three people; her kisses had killed three men she cared about: William, Jack and James. She had never told him about James. "I am a married woman Jack Sparrow. You'd do well to remember that," she tossed in retort over her shoulder.

Jack's hand twitched in her own as she yanked open the door and pulled him out into the night. "I thought it best that if your behavior was going to remain uncivilized and rude as was just the display before your father, we could talk out here."She released his hand, allowing him to fall into rapid step beside her.

"You wanted to be somewhere more private?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She stopped and stared at him, dumbfounded by his persistence in the matter. She ignored the part of her that relished it. "To talk, yes."

Jack scowled. "Talking is overrated love."

She allowed herself a laugh this time, leading him down through the many ship skeleton remains that made up the city to the beach. While she had been living amongst and _in _these ships for a month or so now, she still found herself lost many a time. The beach was one of the few places she could travel to and from without an escort. She found herself there amongst the sand many a lonely night.

Tonight, as they cleared the wooden structures of the city, numerous fires littered the sandy stretch of beach. All of Shipwreck Cove celebrated the night away since the demise of Beckett and Davey Jones. These celebratory drinking, dancing and roughhousing parties happened every night. Sometimes Elizabeth wondered how the many lords could dawdle so long without making sail. But she always welcomed the sight as it offered some manner of relief from her sorrow in new love so quickly taken away, only to be had once every ten years, relief from the loss of her father and the haunting image of seeing him in the Locker, within a lines cast but untouchable. It offered her relief from the loss of James whom she did love and relief from the regret in things that could have been and hurried partings.

She looked at the profile of Jack beside her as he took in the enormous bonfire they had stopped in front of. His smile was toothy and truly happy, his eyes glowing and dancing in the firelight. The warm orange light splayed across his face cast shadows under his high, aristocratic cheekbones.

This night, she thought, I need no relief from at least one of my grievances and for that I am thankful.

He turned to her then, eyes alight with the mischief that she hadn't allowed herself to miss. She felt the relief in his presence with sharp clarity now. Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes and she hoped the play of firelight would pass them as a mere twinkle. With the knowledge she had missed Jack came the fact that the happiness in his presence would not last. She knew he needed to find the _Pearl. _He was a pirate and the sea called him. She knew. She felt it every day.

"So, what brings you to the Cove Jack?" Elizabeth asked, chasing away the start of tears and plopping down on an uninhabited patch of sand. "It obviously wasn't to reunite with your father."

He sat beside her with a sigh. "Aye, you're right there Lizzie. Not here for my father."

"So what does bring you here, and without your crew?"

Jack wouldn't meet her eyes. He grasped a fistful of sand and watched it slip past his fingers, cool and fine. He decided not to offer up the truth just yet. "I happen to be a pirate lord as well. This _is _the cove where pirate lords convene is it not?" When she just stared at him he sighed again, the sound laced with over exaggerated frustration. "Alright oh so wise Lizzie, I lost me ship again to bloody Barbossa and a few of the weak, bilge rat, mutinous crew that we used to sail with. Faithful group, the lot of 'em."

He looked up and could tell Elizabeth fought not to laugh. "Aw, Jack. I truly am sorry."

"No you're not."

Her mouth fell open. "Yes I am!"

He pointed to her mouth. "Then why are you about to bust a gut, huh?"

The smile escaped this time, along with a laugh that warmed his heart despite the subject of her humor. "Well Jack, you have to admit, it is rather… droll."

"I know what that means missy. I am not as empty headed as old Hector. Droll: funny, humorous, amusing and witty. I do not appreciate your enthusiasm in my loss."

"How did you get here?" she asked, trying and failing to somber.

"I don't think I want to tell you the grander of the vessel I rode in on. Might make your tiny fleets look rather embarrassing." He tipped his head back, finishing the last of his rum. He occupied himself with trying to figure out what to do with the empty mug, avoiding Elizabeth's curious gaze.

"Being the pirate king, I think it reasonable to expect some form of answers from you. If it's a ship you need…"

Jack brushed off her comment, feigning intensive interest in the song that the young boy began playing on his violin. "Lizzie, drop your kingly attitude, will you? I am the one who made you king, thus being the least likely to forget your position. Now come, listen to the music."

"It's been so long. How can you not want to talk? Why don't you want to tell me of what you have been up to this past month?" Anger bubbled forth. "And before you talk to me about leaving certain attitudes behind, why not attend to your own. Can you never be real with me?"

"There was a time, dearest, when I had. It was a night much like this one, a night filled with opportunity and a fire, an unmarried, dress cloaked temptation fully available for my plunder." He turned his dark eyes on her, his own anger simmering in the brown depths. "Take the opportunity I didn't, just another good deed ignored, another mark against my title as a pirate. And I learned not to trust. I did and look where it got me; very dead."

Elizabeth held his gaze, her own hard to match his. She laughed mirthlessly. "Do not give yourself so much credit. I had you intoxicated; can't account for ones actions when in that state."

A cold smile split Jack's face to match Elizabeth cold laugh. "The trust came in the act of getting in such a state. Trusted you not to kill me while out cold, loosed my lips to ye."

Elizabeth seemed momentarily taken back by this but covered it with a quick turn away from him. Her voice was a mere whisper when she spoke again. "I may have killed you once Jack and it's something I will always regret. But I went to the end of the world to rescue you; I would think that would mean something." She faced him, voice just as soft. "It has been a long time. Do we have to argue?"

Jack snorted, shifting uncomfortably on the sand. He didn't care for the situation. He shouldn't care for _her _yet his blasted compass kept sending him back to her shore.

"As I said, listen to the music love. It will calm you." This time, his voice held no menacing tone, no anger; only gentleness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Steam**

_She had fire in her soul_

_It was easy to see_

_How the devil himself _

_Could be pulled out of me_

Elizabeth was in the midst of a war. The battle was a fierce one where losses were felt on both sides. As the violin's hauntingly sad and sweet melody cut through the air she contemplated the situation she had suddenly found herself flung into. Here sat Jack Sparrow, childhood idol and teenage fantasy, her rescuer and had been friend. She felt the loss of that friendship strong as she sat in a situation similar to one from her past. She had been young and naïve years ago, back when the game was the same but the rules were much less strict.

She couldn't help but wonder, had she known then what she knew now would the outcome of one night have been different? Had she felt then how she felt now, could the mark on the timeline back then have been altered?

And so it was that Elizabeth Swann sat watching a fierce battle wage between Elizabeth Turner and Lizzie. Both sides were cunning and their points were both valid. Elizabeth Swann felt deeply for a man whom she had cherished and dreamed of since she was a child. He protected her and had on many an occasion rescued her. He was always by her side through battle and had her best interests at heart. He was a good man, a gentleman. She knew that with this man she loved, she would always be respected.

The only problem was this man… was men.

This man that she loved, these men, were William Turner and Jack Sparrow. She had loved Will since childhood. She could not tell you when it was that she actually tagged the word "love" onto "Jack Sparrow," but she knew that it stuck with him now without a doubt. She felt love for the both of them. But only one could truly hold her heart and in this, the battle of Lizzie against Elizabeth Turner was waged.

Elizabeth Turner was not-so happily married to the Dutchman Captain and immortal William Turner. The man was as kind and gentle as any woman could hope any man to be. He would be, Elizabeth knew, an excellent provider, had he ever been able to be there for her. A husband whose occupation kept him at sea for ten year intervals with only a day in between to step foot on land made providing for her a, needless to say, impossible task.

But Will was fair and just. He held her on a pedestal, cherishing her every move as he always had. While the act of said worship and cherishing could be suffocating, she always felt protected with Will. She knew he would never intentionally do anything to harm her. He was strong and brave. She knew him to have a heart of gold, even as it lay in a cold metal chest rather than his warm one; he was the calm in the end, a man now well acquainted with death and its eternal peace and solitude. William Turner was her earth, her roots, her rock.

Lizzie was the woman born the day Jack blew in off the ocean into Port Royal as if off the pages of her many books about him. She was a woman made strong and free by this legend she had always wanted to meet. In Jack Sparrow she found fun and danger that made her feel alive. Jack was the eye of the storm; his ease in times of both trial and peace while chaos raged around him reminded her of the powerful eye of the Caribbean hurricanes. This chaos was, more times than not, caused by him, thus putting herself in constant danger when in his presence. Being a pirate, Jack had a very strong, undeniable love for his ship and the sea.

But Jack always protected her. Elizabeth knew that when Jack was around, though danger always was hot on his heels, he would never abandon her completely and always pulled through. He was a better man than many a person could ever believe a pirate to be. She had tasted him once and was not disappointed. He promised a life of freedom and carefree living. He had a passion for life itself; he was human representation of life at its strongest. Jack Sparrow was her sea, her wind, her fire.

Will had no room for any love but her. Jack had a love for the sea and the _Pearl _that she feared left little room for anything else.

She couldn't help but think that the result of two of the elements that she saw Jack as, fire and ice, when put together made steam…

She smiled at the thought, even as she knew she should not be dwelling on such things. The idea could not be denied; Jack Sparrow was a man who could very quickly and efficiently make her melt.

A low sound rumbled in Jack's chest as he started humming along with the young musician boy and his violin. Elizabeth admired him for a moment as she began swaying ever so slightly to the song. While the battle between Lizzie and Elizabeth Turner had yet to produce a winner, Elizabeth Swann, the Pirate King knew one thing for certain; she valued her relationship with Jack too much to leave past grievances in place in their hearts or past wounds without mend.

"I'm sorry." It was a simple whisper in the wind, a soft sound quieter than the waves as they gently lapped at the sand of the beach. But Jack's head snapped towards Elizabeth as soon as the two words were uttered, his eyes cautious and guarded.

"What was that love?"

Elizabeth averted her eyes, frustrated in the awkwardness it took to bring up the subject, afraid it would shatter the fragile, pins and needles companionship they sat in. She found herself a bit frustrated to have to say it again. A bit louder this time. "I said I am sorry."

"Whatever for?"

When she looked up, Jack was staring pensively into the fire.

"I think you know what I mean." She didn't want to have to say it; the words caused her pain. For that reason, her own type of self punishment - for surely she deserved the pain in exchange for that she had caused him- she made herself say it. "Your death."

His head snapped back to face her again. His mask dropped away and the chill she both saw and felt there made her shiver. It was a chilling look of both anger and betrayal and she found she wished for the absence of the latter the most. She deserved his anger but that look of fear in her betrayal, the look of loss, she knew she had to take away.

Or die trying.

"The day I left you, chained to that mast… and the way I left you... I mean, the fact that I left you at all…" She couldn't get the words out, her throat tightening. Nothing was coming out right. She took a deep breath to calm the shaking in her hands but it did little to help. "Jack, I am sorry for leaving you like I did. I am sorry for not giving you a chance. I am sorry for betraying you and your trust. I… I am sorrier than you will ever know."

The silence that followed was stifling and for a moment Elizabeth feared that she couldn't breathe. She didn't expect an immediate answer, didn't really expect one at all. Jack studied the trembling form beside him and pondered what she had just said. The fact that Elizabeth had not apologized after his escape from the locker had not escaped him, nor the fact that said lack of apology more often than not had been denied him because of a certain whelp. There had been times he had seen in her face her want to speak, her regret.

"Tell me something Lizzie." The sound of Jack's voice through the night startled Elizabeth and she jumped, eyes still studying the sand carefully, unwilling to look at him. "Of the things you regret, the choice you made, the outcome of said choices, was there a time that you may have… lied?" It was an honest question, one he had been asking himself for a long time.

When she didn't offer him her gaze it was his turn to be startled. This was not the Elizabeth he knew, so straightforward and proud. In that moment he knew her apology true.

He cleared his throat when she didn't answer him, grabbing her face gently in his hand, tilting her head back to examine her. He tilted his own back too, observing her down his nose. His attempt to lighten the mood had the desired effect; she smiled softly but quick as a flash the happy look was gone.

"Lizbeth," he started again, sobering. "On the decks of the _Pearl _that day, just before me doom, did you lie? At all? About anything?"

Elizabeth dropped her eyes again but Jack wouldn't have it. "Look at me Lizzie; eyes r' the window to the soul. Want to see your soul."

"When you came back to save the crew, it was a valiant act that deserved nothing of the _reward_," she spat the last word "that I gave you, the fate I cruelly left you to. When I told you that I always knew you to be a good man I was telling the truth. Coming back was the bravest thing you could have done. In that, I never lied."

Jack felt relief deep in his heart with her admission that he had not known he harbored distress about. In her eyes he could see the truth in her words. The pain in recalling the day was honest and real, a reflection of his own. She held his eyes as she continued, no doubt knowing what he could see in her brown eyed depth and shamelessly exposing herself to him.

"When I told you I was not sorry, that was both the truth and a horrible lie. I was sorry for leaving you, for chaining you as I did. My heart screamed with the pain of it. But what I truly wasn't sorry for and will never regret… is kissing you."

Her admission set his heart aflame. He jerked back, eyes wide. Doubt started overshadowing the hope before it could even take hold. Couldn't be so easy. "Never regret it for you knew it was the one thing that could distract me, love. Never do you regret it because you wanted me; you wanted to save Will. Two sides of the same coin. Slake your lust, as it were so you could go on with ye life with dear William Turner. I've been down this road many times, kissed many women, heard every breathless whisper, every wanton beg, seen every lusty sparkle in a pretty batted eye of a woman." He smirked even though he knew how his words stung her. They stung him too. "You wanted a taste of 'ol Jack and when you got it _and _the safety of your dearly beloved, you were right as rain."

Elizabeth was, indeed stung, his words making her flinch back. She regained her composure quickly, any anger fading away. She deserved his accusations. "Denying what you said would be a lie; some of your statements hold some manner of truth." Jack snorted at this, looking away. "But the… feelings did not go away and I am not a woman so like a harlot that I would advance on you in such a way as I did over lust. Not in you. There had been too much between us. Never think that sending you to that fate had been the slaking of lust. Will's and my freedom was a priority, this is true. But I was afraid of how much I cared for you." She looked away. "Shameful to have feelings for anyone but my husband."

Jack's ears perked to this, his hope back in full, making him bold again in his conquest for answers.

"Prove it…"

She looked at him. "Pardon?"

He smirked, all ivory and gold. "Prove it."

"I don't know what you mean. Prove what?"

"If what you say is true Mrs. Turner, interesting admission that it is, prove its worth." He smiled as the violin started up another tune, upbeat and joyful. Men shifted around the fire, the change in atmosphere apparent. "Dance for me."

"Excuse me?"

Jack rolled his eyes, waving his hands in the air. "Dance! You know, up on your feet, swaying about to the beat of the music in a pleasing and graceful way. You know the drill. I want you to dance for me. Can see the truth in a person's body language as well as their eyes, savvy?"

Elizabeth glared at him, taken back by his demand. This had not at all been how she expected him to respond. Dance! He expected her to dance for him.

"Aye lass!" Elizabeth and Jack both looked over at another pirate seated about the fire. "Dance for us King!"

Elizabeth sent Jack a chilling look. When he met her eyes, they were filled with compassion and gentleness and, to her surprise, honest curiosity. Above it all was something she had seen before in the eyes of another but didn't dare dwell on or try to name. He really would find the truth to her admissions through her dancing. That smoldering look melted the chilly ice of her glare and the result his heated look had on her was the steam she had thought about earlier. Her anger melted, leaving her blushing, the fire all too hot.

Under his appraising and hungry eyes, she stood, defiant yet knowing the weight this seemingly playful demand held. If this would show Jack Sparrow the truth of her heart she would dance.

And she would ask Jack after if he could explain it to her for she didn't know her own heart anymore.


End file.
